The intervention came just a day after the retail trading platform announced it would offer Super Bowl sports event contracts in partnership with Kalshi.
Robinhood said in a statement: “We are disappointed by this outcome, especially given that we had been in regular communication with the CFTC about our intent and plans to offer this product.
“We’ve also taken steps to advocate for balanced regulation in the futures and derivatives markets, including participating directly in a CFTC roundtable, providing written to the CFTC, and generally championing the economic benefits of event contracts.”
The business said it would continue to work with the CFTC ahead of the launch of a “more comprehensive” event contracts platform later in the year.
Robinhood: will regulators strangle sports event contracts?
The news comes in the wake of regulator unease about the spread of event contracts, especially those relating to political or sports outcomes.Cryptocurrency trading platform Crypto.com was also forced to pause its Super Bowl event contracts after a CFTC review.
A CFTC spokesperson told Reuters: “The CFTC has serious concerns about [futures commission merchants] offering access to their customers to any contract that may not be permissible under the law and will exercise its oversight authority to the fullest extent as appropriate.
“FCMs have strict duties and obligations pursuant to the CFTC’s customer protection rules and are held to the highest standards to safeguard the public.”
So far, the Trump-appointed acting CFTC chair Caroline D. Pham appears to be continuing the previous leadership’s scepticism towards event contracts.
There had been some hopes the new istration might be more friendly to these more novel products, with some highlighting Kalshi’s appointment of Donald Trump Jr. as an advisor as evidence of this.
